Emerald Met Steel
by Earlindae
Summary: "No! I can't be! I refuse to accept it!"  But something deeper within Draco than his mind had already conceded defeat: He was, and very much so, in love with Harry Potter. Drarry SLASH. First fic, so any criticism is welcome, it all helps :
1. Chapter 1

Emerald Met Steel

**Disclaimer: ** I do not own Harry Potter, it and all its affiliates belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers.

**Warnings: ** This is a gay slash story, so if you are uncomfortable with that, don't read it.

Chapter 1- Equal Pairings

"Today, we will be brewing the Serum of Respite. Now, due to the nature of its preparation," Snape drawled at the 6th year Potions class, "this particular potion must be made in pairs. I will be assigning the pairings so don't waste your time Miss Brown, Miss Patil." He said pointedly, directing the last phrase at the two girls who were grinning at each other in the hopes of being paired. "I will be pairing you according to skill, so each pairing will have a similar level to the rest."

Harry looked exhaustedly at Ron, who knew exactly how he felt; they were tied for the lowest mark in the class, so that meant that one of them would be paired with Hermione, and the other with Malfoy_, _who were tied for the top mark_, _the two boys thought disdainfully.

Snape flicked his wand at the black board, and pairings were written out in the professor's barely legible scrawl. Harry and Ron held their breath as they looked to see who would be paired with Malfoy. _Weasly-Granger _was written on the board and Ron brightened considerably. He looked at a crestfallen Harry sympathetically, but not without some underlying triumph.

Harry groaned as he stood and moved to where Malfoy was sitting. "Well, if it isn't the poster-boy," Draco sneered, dryly.

"Listen, Malfoy, I don't enjoy this anymore than you do, so let's just make the potion and be done with it." Harry said, trying his best not to hex Malfoy into next week.

"Watch what you're doing, Potter!" Draco snapped, as Harry knocked his arm. He had been trying to extract the juice from a Hyserian pod, and harry had just caused him to skewer it all the way through, into the table.

Harry shot Malfoy a faux-apologetic look and went back to stirring the simmering cauldron. The liquid within it was a deep red colour, which reminded Harry, all too much, of blood.

"Potter! You're meant to turn down the flame not up-" Draco was cut off by a sudden BANG! As the contents of their cauldron ignited and burned up, leaving a small lump of brown-red sludge at the bottom.

Students began to cough and wheeze, making various sounds of disgust, the classroom had started to fill with a putrid odour. "What is _this?" _Snape drawled in his trademark monotone, as he peered into the cauldron. The lump of sludge was releasing fumes which smelt like a rotting carcass. "Twenty points from each of your houses for causing such," Snape sniffed, and his face took on a look of revolution, "_unpleasantness, _and Iwill be seeing both of you after dinner for a detention."

"But why do _I_ have to go to detention?" Draco protested, "It was Potter who turned up the flame!"

"_Enough_, Mister Malfoy, you are supposed to be the higher level student, so I see it as equally your fault as Potter's, as you should have ensured he knew the procedure before starting to make the potion." Draco was silenced. "Detention, after dinner." Snape said again, re-enforcing his judgement.

Harry and Draco shot each other glares, and nodded to the professor. _Excellent_, Draco thought sarcastically, _more time with the 'Golden Boy.'_

Draco Malfoy strode down the corridor to the Potions dungeon, _Damn that Potter! _He thought _I have better things to do with my time than sit in detention with the Golden Boy._

Harry Potter walked down the corridor to the Potions dungeon. _Damn that Malfoy! _He thought _I have better things to do with my time than sit in detention with that ferret._

Harry walked through the already open door to the Potions room to find Draco already seated at a desk. Harry took a seat at another. Professor Snape walked into the room from the storeroom. "I have decided," Snape drawled, "that the two of you are to make, and perfect, the Serum of Respite, that you managed to turn into something quite _opposite. _I will be in my office, bring one vile of the perfected serum to me there." He left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Right, Potter." Draco spat. "First we have to collect the ingredients; I'll read them out while you fetch them."

"I am not your servant, Malfoy." Harry retorted, with flaring irritation.

"Yes, Potter, you are, however, useless when it comes to setting up a workspace, and taller than me. So, while I set up the equipment, you get the ingredients, most of which are on higher shelves." Harry walked reluctantly into the storeroom, faintly irked that Malfoy had a point.

Harry was reaching to the highest shelf to retrieve a Boomslang skin, as Draco spoke from below him. "What is taking you so long, Potter?" Startled by Draco's sudden appearance, Harry lost his footing on the step ladder, falling- on top of Draco.

"Watch yourself, Potter" Draco snapped. Harry was about to retort when he realised how he had landed- one leg on either side of Draco, with Draco lying under him. Harry blushed._ What? Why do I care? _ He thought frantically, not moving from his position. As Draco looked up at Harry, heat flooded to his face. Emerald eyes meet steel ones, and stared into each other. _His eyes... _They both thought, and suddenly with a start, they looked away. Harry moved off Draco and stood up. Draco stood and looked at Harry. "Um," He said very un-Malfoy like, he scolded himself mentally, _Malfoys are __not __flustered._ "The cauldrons ready"

"Yeah, I'll be there in a second" Harry said quickly, a bit too quickly. "I just have to get this..." He trailed off. Draco walked back out into the classroom.

They completed the Serum, and, though they knew it was not perfect, took a vile to Professor Snape. "Well, it is the wrong shade of blue." Snape said, eyeing the teardrop shaped vile. "You are dismissed." He finished, sharply, neither boy contesting.

Harry made his way back to the Gryffindor commons, and promptly headed to his dormitory. He lay back on his bed thinking: _What was that?_ _Why was I so embarrassed?_

Draco strutted into his study. _Oh no. _He thought, _isn't it enough for me to like guys? Why __**him**__? _He let his head slump onto his desk. _Why Harry-Golden Boy- Potter? _Draco thumped his head on the wood.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer-** I do not own Harry Potter, it and all its affiliates are the property of J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers.

**Warning- **This is a gay slash story, so if you are uncomfortable with that, don't read it.

Chapter 2- Realisation.

Draco woke up and rolled over in his bed. He groaned into his pillow, remembering the events of the past day. _Harry Potter. _The name repeated itself again and again inside his head. He remembered how Harry had blushed when he was sitting on top of him, he remembered blushing himself, but most of all he remembered his eyes. They had seen so much, those eyes. So much pain and hurt, loss and suffering but also hope and compassion were reflected in his eyes. Draco moved himself to the edge of his bed, black silk sheets slipping over black silk pyjamas, and sat up. He knew today was going to be difficult.

Harry woke to Ron shaking him. "Bloody hell, Harry, wake up!" Harry rolled over in his bed, mumbling incoherently. He was trying to remember why he hadn't slept restfully. He had been plagued by dreams, but not of Voldemort. He could only remember one thing about these dreams: a pair of steel gray eyes. _Draco? _He thought his mind still clouded by sleep, why had he been dreaming of Draco? With a start, he remembered what had happened the past evening, and his face quickly reddened. _Why, _he thought to himself, _am I so focused on what happened? I've fallen onto Ron plenty of times and I've never been embarrassed, what's so different about Draco? _Harry's mind swirled with thoughts of Draco as he mustered his will power, and wrenched himself from bed.

Ron and Harry rushed, still adjusting their robes, to the Great Hall, where a disgruntled Hermione awaited them. "Why are you two always late for breakfast? It is getting ridiculous" Hermione said, looking up from the Daily Prophet she was reading.

"Hermione, look around," Ron said, "we're some of the first people here! Just because you always wake up early, does not mean that everyone else is late." He said with exasperation.

"Ron," Hermione said, her voice taking on an air of annoyance, "you are some of the last people here. Everyone else has _left" _Harry could not stifle his chuckle, and both Ron and Hermione glared at him. "I don't see why you're laughing, Harry, you are just as late as Ron."

"It's still funny." He said, and, catching his reflection on the serving tray in front of him, tried to smooth down his hair, to no avail.

_I don't see why he bothers, his hair looks great anyway. The whole 'messy' look is actually quite adorable. _Draco caught himself staring across the fast emptying hall, looking directly at Harry. He forced himself to look down at his porridge, absently stirring it with his spoon. _ No, _he thought to himself, his mouth tightening, _no, absolutely not, his hair looks ragged, unkempt and dirty. I will NOT be fawning over Harry. _

Draco stood up; leaving his breakfast unfinished, and tried to remember which class he had first- Potions. Draco felt something bubble up inside him; he was excited about a class with Harry. Draco was tempted to go up to a wall and thump his head on it. _What happened to not fawning over Potter? _He chided himself. He continued down into the dungeons, and approached the Potions class.

Harry stared at the black board in disbelief. Written upon it, once again was 'Malfoy-Potter.' Professor Snape silenced the murmuring class with one, icing glare. "Due to the previous lesson's _interruption_," he shot piercing glances at Harry and Draco, "we will be attempting the Serum of Respite once more, if anyone causes the class to be disrupted again, the offenders will have 50 points taken _each_, and must write four feet on _what they did wrong._" Harry slumped in his seat; he could practically feel the class glaring at him.

"You two," Snape drawled at Draco and Harry, who were setting up their cauldron. "I expect a perfect Serum from you. If it is not, each of you will have points taken, and must deliver five feet on why you found it so difficult to improve." Snape moved away from their table, his robes billowing around him. Draco looked at Harry, forcing himself into a glare, "Right, you should get the ingredients." Harry scowled slightly and nodded, he could not bring himself to be annoyed at Draco's order.

Harry was attempting to grind some dried Cannibert leaves into a fine powder, when Draco looked over at what he was doing. "Potter, you are going to make those unusable. I thought I showed you how to do it yesterday?" He sneered.

"Well how am I meant to do it then, Malfoy?" Harry shot back at him. Draco snorted.

"Like this," Draco moved next to Harry and put his hand over the brunette's showing him how to mover the pestle. Harry tensed under Draco's touch, but found himself relaxing almost as quickly. Draco caught himself suddenly blushing at touching Harry's hand.

Harry muttered "Okay, I've got it," quietly under his breath. Draco moved back to his spot, stirring the cauldron. _I am really not good at this whole not fawning thing. _Draco sighed internally. Harry felt strangely happy and content after the brief contact. _Wait, _he thought, _the only other time I remember feeling like this was when... _He let his thought trail off as he glanced back over at the blond, who was adding the powdered leaves to the Serum. _What? No. It can't be. _Harry stared intensely at his hand; the one Draco had just been touching.

_The last time I felt like that was when I kissed Cho..._

**[A/****N] **Hello! Chapter two is here! I was really happy to receive even a few reviews, so the next instalment practically forced itself from my fingers! Can I just mention that I really don't like writing Hermione; she is the character I have the most trouble with so she probably won't make much of an appearance. Please R&R.

Earlindae xx


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer-** I do not own Harry Potter, it and all its affiliates are the property of J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers.

**Warning-**This is a gay slash story, so if you are uncomfortable with that, don't read it.

Chapter 3- Partners again.

Harry had caught himself looking over at the Slytherin table at once again, subconsciously hoping to see the blonde aristocrat. He cursed himself for falling for someone so, so _Malfoy!_He had given up trying to convince himself otherwise, every time he thought of something he didn't like about the Slytherin, the part of himself that was entirely Draco's would scold him, and remind him of how nice it had felt to just be around him. Harry was in a seemingly bottomless pit of lovelorn heartache.

Draco looked over to the Gryffindor table, seeing a brunette head duck down sharply as he lifted his eyes. _Harry._ Draco stood up from his bench and headed to Potions, mildly excited about the upcoming class.

"As you may have remembered, although I sincerely doubt it," Snape drawled at the Potions class, "you will be doing another partnered potion today." He flicked his wand at the black board. _Potter-Malfoy_had appeared once again.

"Disappointingly, none of your grades have improved enough to warrant a change of pairs, so they will remain as they were last time." Draco felt a small flicker of excitement within his chest, another chance to work with Harry. Harry's features re-arranged themselves into an expression midway between delight and anguish. He had felt happy that he was still paired with Draco, and then a wave of nervousness swept over him. He likedDraco. He _really_liked Draco.

"Malfoy." Harry addressed the Slytherin, his voice lacking the usual amount of dislike he reserved for him.

"Potter." Draco said, trying his best to smirk, when he wanted to beam.

Harry had to force himself not to smile back at Draco. "So, um, I'll get the ingredients," Harry managed to say, "Can you set up?" Draco nodded slightly. As Harry walked to the storeroom, Draco scolded himself mentally: _Don__'__t__let__your__guard__down,__Draco!__You__don__'__t__want__him__figuring__it__out._

Draco stirred the cauldron slowly, making sure not to let the bubbling green liquid splash out onto him; in its current state, it could burn through his flesh instantly. Harry looked up from a set of glass beakers, seeing Draco concentrating fiercely. _Wow,_Harry thought. _He__looks__so__nice__today.__And__his__face__is__all__pinched__up__with__concentration.__It__'__s__amazing.__It__'__s__adorable._Draco looked over at Harry, catching him by surprise, "Pass me those seeds."

"A please, maybe? I'm not your servant Malfoy." Harry griped, handing them to Draco. Draco sneered at him. Draco dropped the seeds one by one into the cauldron, bracing himself for what he knew would occur. _**Bang!**___ The cauldron had been reduced to nothing but a small pile of green and grey dust.

Snape walked past them, "Detention. Clean this up immediately." He didn't even bother to stop walking as he handed out their punishment. Harry closed his eyes, and tried not to yell; he had enough on his plate as it was, and now he had another detention.

"I can't believe you managed to land us in detention again!" Harry shot at Draco after Snape had left them to sort the storeroom. Draco smirked.

"What do you find so funny about this?" Harry interrogated Draco.

"You are." Draco replied coolly. "I did it on purpose."

"You did what?" Harry was incredulous.

"I added the wrong ingredient on purpose."

"_Why_?" Harry was so confused, why would Draco do this?

"I caught you staring at me, and detention was the only place I could think of to talk to you about it, without Weasel or Granger hanging about," Draco explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Harry stared at his feet. _Oh__no,__I__'__m__done__for,_he thought anxiously.

"Why were you staring at me, Harry?" Draco said softly, his nerves finally surfacing.

Harry mumbled incoherently under his breath.

"What was that?"

"I thought you looked nice today." Harry said quickly, his voice barely more than a whisper.

Draco blushed, pink highlighting his pale cheeks. "You look good yourself, Potter." He said, suddenly confident. Harry looked back up from his feet, his eyes staring disbelievingly into Draco's. Draco took a small step towards Harry, "You always do." Harry's racing mind had ground to a halt. All that he could think of was Draco, and how close they were at that moment. Draco reached out and placed his hand on Harry's cheek.

"Draco..." Harry trailed off. Draco leant towards him, and their lips met. It was a quick and sweet kiss, tentative and unsure. They pulled away at the same time, studying each other's faces, looking for any signs of reaction. Harry gathered his courage, "I think I like you, Draco."

Draco grinned, elated.

"I think I like you too, Harry," and he leaned in to kiss Harry again. He could feel Harry smiling against his lips.

Xx End xX

Done! And that wraps up my first fic, in all its slashy-ness! Just a short one chapter this time, but I think it's okay. I didn't really want any conflict in this, so I kept it nice and fluffy.

PS- Sorry for the epic lateness, I am rather inept when it comes to remembering to check things *sigh* Thank you to my wonderful beta Bluelily96 :D


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